I been seeing a lot of thread pop up lately about Neon Tetras housed with Bettas. While I generally discourage this I would like to give a little advice to the newer fish keepers on stocking these fish.

Neon Tetras are not beginner fish. I don't care what the pet store tells you. They are not hardy and are riddled with many genetic defects. These guys will bring home many nasty diseases. Quarintine is not a suggestion with these colorful little fish. It is the rule. You must prepare well once you decided you want to add them to a tank. The tank must be cycled. This is very important. They need a 10 gallon for a school of 6+ and please don't even think about getting less then 6.

You need to pick where you buy these guys well in advance of purchase as well. If they have a high die off rate you want to pick another store. I would recommend Jumbo Neon Tetras or Cardinal Tetras over the standard Neon Tetras. They are healthier over all and have less nasty over inbred genetic time bombs hidden in them. (Yes inbred not line bred.) Neons and Cardinals can be schooled together.

Once your new Neons have spent a month in quarantine it is time to introduce them to their new tank. Divide the tank with a mesh so the Betta can see his new tank mates. Let them spend a week this way so everyone can get use to the idea of sharing a tank. On the day you remove the divider make sure you have a day at home to observe. Watch your Betta closely. He will tell you immediate if he is insecure with his new tank mates. Chasing, hiding, and over aggressiveness are sure signs he is not comfortable with the new arrangement. If he doesn't settle down after a couple hours you have should redivide the tank. You can attempt another week of dividing the tank and repeating the process. Just remember your Betta may never be comfortable with the Neons and if this doesn't work after two weeks I would suggest rehome the Neons in another tank.

Now I will grant there are exceptions to every rule and fish stocking does have a few. Just because you had success in the past with random unplanned stocking please remember our fishy friends are much more susceptible to stress then we are. Please consider their needs. I hope everyone has success in finding the stocking combination that works for you and your aquatic family.

40 years ago we had fish tanks and I never recall any kind of huge die off of neons or any common fish we kept. Even without cycled tanks at first.

Now years later I recently tried to put 8 neons-- not QT'd --into a CYCLED tank with one betta. It resulted in the 8 neons dying in the space of a week and giving my betta such anxiety that I almost lost him too. The neons never did anything to the betta, but their sickness and dying caused him to clamp up and almost go belly up.

Anyway, he's fine now, no more neons for me. Fishkeeping is not as simple today as it once was.

Neons should never be housed with Angelfish. It's just providing the Angelfish with a buffet. They should only be housed with fish of similar size or at least mouths to small to fit a Neon in.

Yep, my mom learned that the hard way. She tried to buy "big" neons, but still didn't work. She's given up now.

I actally bring her minnow fry from work now as fish food...all her fish eat them, not just the angels - she has skirt tetras, rummy nose tetras, flying fox and a clown loach. The fry are smaller than neons but not by much.